The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped a double dose of roster transaction surprises Friday when they activated both Casey Hampton and Rashard Mendenhall from the physically unable to perform list.

Both players underwent knee surgery in January and neither were expected to be ready by now. Of course, neither player will likely play this preseason and Mendenhall might miss most of September, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports.

Unlike Mendenhall, Hampton doesn't have to cut on a dime while trying to avoid the likes of Ray Lewis, so he should return earlier. When he does, though, he'll find himself in a reserve role as former undrafted free agent Steve McLendon has a firm grip on the starting nose tackle job, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

McLendon is coming off a career season, totaling 13 tackles and a sack in 14 games, including his first NFL start. According to official playing-time documents, McLendon logged just 171 of the team's 999 defensive snaps last season. That number figures to increase as the 6-foot-4, 325-pounder earns the praise of his teammates, including veteran inside linebacker Larry Foote.

"He's strong, he's athletic, he can push the pocket and he can go on the side of the pocket and get pressure," Foote said. "I think last year he really made his mark, the games he played showed the team he's going to be here for a while."

08-18-2012, 12:16 PM

ChucktownSteeler

Nice article, thanks for sharing!

08-18-2012, 04:00 PM

BlitzburghRockCity

McLendon is going to beast on everyone this year. He's a different type of NT than Casey is but can still be just as effective if not more since he's younger and more agile. That extra weight he put on this year and the power he's got should give Ta'amu plenty of time to learn.

Assuming Ta'amu doesn't completely bomb out next year, there's no way I can see Casey coming back.

08-18-2012, 04:06 PM

Root4Stlrs

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlitzburghRockCity

McLendon is going to beast on everyone this year. He's a different type of NT than Casey is but can still be just as effective if not more since he's younger and more agile. That extra weight he put on this year and the power he's got should give Ta'amu plenty of time to learn.

Assuming Ta'amu doesn't completely bomb out next year, there's no way I can see Casey coming back.

I think he is a great example of how it often takes players awhile to really blossom in the Steelers defense. As many have noted, Polamalu looked anything but great his first year. I also think that had something to do with the defensive coordinator who left that year and went to Giants (?). The next year was when Coach LeBeau showed up.